We already know that parental guidance is crucial for early literacy emergence in our children and that our involvement is the cornerstone to developing social, emotional and cognitive skills.

So why do we behave differently when it comes to technology?

Help Your Child Learn

Researchers Laura Zimmerman and Rachel Barr found that when toddlers were left to navigate apps on their own, context and synthesis, two foundational aspects of knowledge, were often absent.

In essence, the skills young children acquire from playing an app on a screen are not always transferred to real world scenarios.

Zimmerman and Barr worked with a puzzle app, requiring children to drag the pieces on the screen, dropping them into the correct positions; the same task was then completed with a physical, 3D puzzle.

One set of children received a ghost demonstration of the task, wherein the app demonstrates by moving the pieces into the correct positions, while the other set of children had an adult demonstrate how to assemble the digital puzzle.

Those children who received a physical demonstration performed at a greater level than those who received a virtualdemonstration.

The results illustrate that children perform better, or achieve a higher level of learning when a person physically demonstrates the task beforehand.

The skills young children acquire from playing an app on a screen are not always transferred to real world scenarios.

What This Means for Parents

This is obviously a compelling argument for accompanying your child’s in-app play, but it’s also a concrete example of how socialization and one-on-one instruction are crucial to cognitive development.

These findings should push you to find out more about the ways in which technology is being used in your child’s classroom.

For those classrooms featuring computer workstations, ask if applications are first being demonstrated by a teacher or an aide.

Zimmerman and Barr point out that so many parents see their toddlers picking up a tablet and intuitively knowing what to do with the technology. But, what parents often overlook is the hundreds, even thousands, of hours they’ve spent honing their own skills with computers.

Remember, our kiddos still need guidance in using tools such as tablets, despite having been surrounded by technology since birth.

Lauren B. Stevens is a writer, editor & digital parent, whose pieces have been published across the internet and featured in several print anthologies. Lauren lives in the Baltimore area with her husband and son, and enjoys spending her family time hiking and traveling.